Heroes
by Elissar
Summary: After Terrorist attacks in Jump City the Titans, and the public they protect, are faced with one crucial question: How much freedom are you willing to sacrifice to feel safe?
1. 8:04am

A/N: I'm taking a sabbatical from my other ongoing work to write this, b/c it was just screaming at me to get out of my head (it's a scary place, you'd want out too).

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans…be kind, rewind.

Heroes

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."  
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

The sun rose over the Jump City suburb, slicing through the crisp, cold air, cracking the thin iced that covered ground. The small playground next to the rundown apartment building was equally dilapidated, and held no signs of any child's use for quite some time.

The man in apartment 1A was just finishing getting dressed, he pulled on a large overcoat and then pulled a hat far down on his head to shield him from the unusually cold weather. He grabbed his bag and left his apartment only about 20 minuets after sunrise.

He walked down the first floor hallway, avoiding major holes in the floor, scattering rats, and crushing more than a few cockroaches. Stepping over a drunk, passed out into the entranceway, he went to open the front door, without having to turn the handle, and with no lock to speak of, it was pushed open easily.

He pulled a set of keys out of a pocket concealed within his bulky frame and moved quickly towards a nondescript, white-paneled van. He opened the door and climbed in, setting his backpack in the passenger seat. He tuned the key in the ignition and the engine rolled over, he turned it again with the starter going, trying to kick the van into starting, finally on the third try it revved to life. He turned the van's heat on the highest setting and started to drive north. He drove on side streets for a few miles before finding an entrance ramp onto the highway into the city.

He got on the freeway going north and passed under a sign telling him that the Jump City downtown exit was only 23 miles away. The man kept looking at his watch, then at the digital clock on the van's dashboard, then at the road signs as the passed; then back at his watch again. A billboard proclaimed "Fletcher for America".

As he passed over a large highway bridge, a crisscross of half a dozen overpasses and underpasses underneath, all headed in one direction or another he checked his watch again. He switched on his turn signal and got over into the right most lane of the highway. His hands were in a near death grip of the steering wheel. His knuckles were turning white.

He lowered the passenger-side window, the wind breaking the silence of the van with a deafening rush at 75 miles per hour. With his right hand reaching out, he fiddled momentarily with the contents of the green canvass backpack before resealing it and summarily tossing it out of the passenger-side window. He watched in the rearview mirrors as the bag tumbled against the barrier to the near 100 foot drop from the highest overpass, and came to a rest on the shoulder of the road amidst tire debris, broken glass and cigarette butts.

He breathed a slight sigh of relief and went back to concentrating intently on his watch and on his driving.

When the downtown exit came up he took it and after a few minuets was in the near gridlock of rush-hour traffic. Franticly he checked his watch, and then the clock on the dash. He seemed only slightly relieved and continued only a few more blocks before he spotted where he need to be in a few short minuets.

He wasn't curious why he was lucky enough to find a parking space in downtown, in the midst of rush-hour. He knew that God was smiling on him today, of all days. He did not put any coins in the parking meter after he got out. The hat was becoming to hot for him and he pulled it off. He dropped it on the lap of a sleeping homeless man, waking him up. The homeless man looked around quickly, spotted the man and called out

"Thanks friend!"

The man ignored him as he walked towards his goal. He opened the door to the large coffee shop franchise. It was teaming with people, dozens upon dozens of workers getting their early morning coffee fix before they started the daily grind at the office.

The man took a few more steps inside. No one noticed him.

Sweat was pouring down his face, despite the freezing temperatures outside. He brought a small, pocket-sized book, out and held it in his right hand. He lowered his head for a moment, as if in prayer. He raised his right hand with the book above his head. His left was at his side, into his hand slipped a small black box with a button on the top.

He brought his left hand up and looked at his watch. A few people had taken notice of him. But still the vast majority of the patrons where unaware of his presence. He looked up, he tired to speak but his voice faltered. Again he tried to speak, and this time was successful. He announced to the coffee shop

"Behold the wrath of Almighty God!"

A man in a business suit put his coins in the machine and took out a newspaper—the _Jump City Times_—when his cell phone rang. He took it from his coat pocket, shifting his paper to the hand holding his briefcase.

"Hello?" He started walking; he looked at the headline 'Sheppard 20 points ahead less than 2 weeks out', "Oh, high sweetie. Are you ready to go back to school, Emily? After your nice little break from all the ice yesterday, I envy you honey" he dropped his paper and bent down to pick it up "Ok, I gotta go, daddy's gotta work… I love you too. Bye."

A massive explosion ripped through the wall he was walking next to. The windows were vaporized by jets of fire and a shockwave that shattered glass a block away. A cloud of fire engulfed the surrounding area.

Milliseconds after the man, detonated, himself the explosive-packed bag he had thrown onto the bridge went off. Dozens of cars were incinerated destroying a large northbound section.

Moments later the fatally wounded support columns buckled and collapsed, causing a chain reaction which took nearly 400 feet of the 1000-foot span with it.

A number of other explosions rocked the city; all in quick succession. Alarms went off in every police and fire station, on the county and state level, and within minuets of the first explosion, every level of the federal government had been notified all the way up to the President himself.

---

"Mr. President, teams on the ground in Jump City have just now confirmed two more blasts. That brings the total count up to—"

"Nine."

"Yes sir. The Governor of California has already called up her state's national guard."

The President turned to his group of advisors.

"Secretary Donaldson, is there any link between these madmen and a foreign government?"

"President Sheppard, as of right now, we don't know if we are under attack from a foreign power or not."

"Jeff, divert the 6th fleet to the Persian Gulf, I want air-strike targets in 30 minuets, if some country was involved we're going to bomb them back to the stone age, and if there were training camps in their nation, we'll hold them responsible. Gentlemen, we are at war."

---

"Starfire, take the Southside. Cyborg, Beast Boy, take the Westside. I'm taking the Northwest; Raven you're with me." All the team solemnly nodded their heads in comprehension. "**_Titans go_**!"

They all sped from the tower as fast as their powers would allow them. Starfire flying, Cyborg driving, Cheetah-Beast Boy sprinting, Raven and Robin teleporting.

The scene that Robin and Raven arrived at was beyond the worst thing they had imagined, worse than anything Robin had ever seen.

Robin only let the shock and horror of the scene grip them for a moment. Smoke and dust was still hanging low to the ground, with the fires everywhere only feeding it. Robin stepped over a leg, its owner nowhere to be seen, cringing as he did.

Walking through some of the debris, and sidestepping still more. Raven followed close behind, using her black energy to smother the smaller fires along their path as they went.

The reached ground zero of the explosion, the entire front entrance and side wall of what used to be a coffee shop we gone, pieces of them scattered all around the two of them and into the streets. They went inside the charred hulk of a building.

There was only one spattering of color throughout what was left of the place, only a few small, soft, colored things hung around the remains of the building, dangling off of tattered bricks and bits of steel and glass.

"Robin, is that what I think it is?" Raven was looking intently at a small lump of what used to be a person.

Robin didn't turn to face her. He was absorbed in the carnage before him, but he did answer.

"Yeah..."

Raven seemed tobecome a little bit more pale a this, she shook her head to bring herself back to normal.

"Oh my god." Raven stood back up to her full height, grimacing at scene before her. She turned away.

"We have to look for survivors." Robin said, pushing his emotions back down"I'll search in here. You check the streets and adjacent buildings, ok?"Raven shook her head yes.

Raven glided off into the debris-laden air, it was only a few minuets after the blast and it had not yet had time to clear. She heard a moan a landed quickly and pinpointed the person. She was at his side in a moment.

"Sir, sir are you alright?"

The man was lying on his back, she could see blood running through his business suit from his right side, and a large gash on his forehead was dumping blood into his eyes.

"I—I have to, to get my, my coffee" he mumbled out while trying to life his head.

"Sir, you can't get your coffee, it's not there anymore. I have to apply pressure to this wound to stop the bleeding." Raven pressed her hands against the man's wound and began to heal it. Within seconds it was gone, with the blood already lost its only remaining evidence of existence.

"I need to, need…coffee. I…I can't see." His arms were grasping for something in the air that wasn't there, but they fell to the ground and his head lolled over to the side. A pool of blood had formed around his head, from a wound Raven never even saw.

Raven knew he was dead, she knew there was nothing else she could do for him. She quickly got to her feet and continued her search.

She heard the cry of a woman, screams for help. Raven quickly found the woman, not too much older than herself. The woman's legs were pinned beneath a large piece of concrete that had to weigh at least several tons.

"Help...me, hel—" The woman laid back, he voice dying down.

"Your going into shock, don't worry, I can take care of this." Raven encased the massive bolder with her telekinetic power, lifted it up off the woman, and set in gently down next to her.

She dropped to her knees and placed her one hand on each of the woman's legs, Raven noticed that they looked somewhat like raw hamburger; she began to heal the woman's legs and in only a few seconds they weren't fully healed, but enough to keep the woman out of shock and out of danger until the first responders arrived.

She got back up and continued searching for victims.

'Victims,' she thought 'innocent victims, all these people, they had nothing to do with this. They didn't deserve this…I'll get whoever did this, I'll make sure they pay."

Robin bent down, examining the crater in the middle of the floor. 'Obviously where the guy was standing.' He thought.

His communicator beeped, he took it out and flipped it open. Cyborg was on the other end.

"Robin, it's crazy down here! How could no one have noticed such big bombs sitting in the middle of these crowded areas?"

"Because they were carried in Cyborg, with the prefect camouflage."

"What do ya mean?"

"Suicide Bombers Cyborg. These men blew themselves up."

"Jesus man. Shit! I gotta go." Cyborg ended the transmission and Robin put his communicator away. He was just looking at the destruction, he knew there wouldn't be any survivors inside; he had just wanted Raven to get out of here.

He could hear sirens and after a minuet the fist responders appeared.

"I thought I might find you guys here. Where are the others?" The police captain asked.

"All over the city," Robin responded "there isn't anyone in here, but there are plenty of people who need help in the streets."

"You heard him boys! Get out there and find any survivors!" He yelled to all the paramedics and firemen who had come with him. He and Robin were now inside the burnt out husk of the building's first and second floor.

"Dear god" said the captain, covering his mouth "I'm hearing that it's like this all over the city. What a huge attack."

"No captain," Robin turned to him "this was just an opening salvo." Looking at the ruin around him, Robin sighed, this was just the beginning, it was already bad and it was only going to get worse. He knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep from now on.

The captain was talking on his radio; Robin walked past him and stepped over the blown-out window frame, the smoke was finally starting to clear up.

Raven flew out of the haze, landing next to him, her face solemn "Robin, this is… I- I don't know how to describe it."

"I know, Raven." He opened his mouth to say something else but he stopped when his communicator began to beep. He took it from his belt and flipped it open, revealing Starfire on the tiny screen.

"Friends, I require your assistance as quickly as possible. The building targeted by the bomber has become structurally unsound and there are still many people to be evacuated, I am going as fast as I can but there are simply too many for me alone. Please come, now." Starfire signed off as soon as she was done, to go back and save more victims.

"You heard her, Raven." Robin said, stowing his communicator away.

"She too far away for us to get there in time, I have to teleport us."

Robin tensed himself as Raven's energy enveloped him; he always disliked being transported, it always felt weird, but most of the time it was thankfully shrouded by the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

A moment late the black wall if around him disappeared and he was struck by the scene before him. He stood at the foot of Jump City's tallest building; the top three floors engulfed in flame, the roof obscured by the lapping fires and smoke, its shadow cast over him, his stare was fixed for a few seconds, before Raven shook him.

"Robin, come on!" She yelled back to him as she raced into the building.

Robin ran after her, bobbing and weaving through the steams of people in all sorts of states came out of the building.

'Only our job tells us to run into the places everyone else is running out of.' Robin thought as he bolted through one of the many open doors.

He stopped behind Raven in the middle of the lobby.

"Why does Starfire need our help? It's only the top few floors that are in danger."

"There's smoke coming down the stairwells," Robin pointed to one of the few with no people coming down it "the fire is too high for the smoke to be coming out that thick down here."

"There are other floors on fire." Robin was already running towards the stairs, Raven caught up with him in flight and picked him up.

"We don't have time for this" Raven outstretched her hand and a disk of black energy formed under Robin, lifting him off the floor to follow Raven as she, literally, flew up the stairs.

The stopped in front of the 8th floor sign on the wall; the smoke was seeping through the miniscule crack between the door and the frame. Robin touched the back of his gloved hand to the door but felt no radiant heat. He grasped the handle and pulled it open

A blast of hot air thick with choking, black smoke billowed through the opening. He knew there were intense fires burning on the floor but the smoke all but obscured them. Robin was about to slam the door shut, and turn for the stairs when a rumble shook the building. The stairs above them came crashing down in a heaping pile of concrete chunks and steal.

They both dived into the open door to avoid being crushed. Robin coughed and wheezed in the thick smoke, he looked back at the door to find it completely sealed by debris. Raven too, was suffering from the overpowering smoke.

Robin pulled a small respirator from his belt while Raven created a mask over her nose and mouth with her powers. They got up and both headed down the hallway. As they moved further into the floor the fire became glaringly apparent as it consumed the offices to their right and left.

After only a minuet Raven created a shield around them to protect them from the ever-increasing heat. They reached the stairwell on the opposite side of the floor and it was thankfully clear of collapse, however, the power was out, and only the emergency lights we working.

"Raven, we have to put out these fires before they bring down the entire building."

"I'll do what I can here, go up and guide more people out."

Raven reopened the door and shot out a wave of her powers to extinguish nearby flames, she walked back into the raging inferno to do what she could.

Robin ran up the stairs two steps at a time, but after only a minuet of running he came to a stop, the stairs here were blocked off in the same way as the others, he opened the door to that level only to find it crushed almost halfway.

Robin whirled on his heels and stated to race back down the stairs. He opened his communicator and pressed a button, a few seconds later Raven answered.

"Raven, these stairs are blocked off too, there have got to be some people trapped up their still but this place is coming apart, it could go at any minuet, I'm headed for the lobby. Get out of here."

"Ok, I'm leaving." Raven signed off. She put her communicator away but in the short time it distracted her, the fire had reclaimed much of its lost territory and she was now encircled.

Maintaining a shield around herself, she concentrated very hard, and summoned up as much power as she could muster and teleported outside the front doors of the building with over 300 people, most of them in huddled positions, some with rags held over their mouths, all fairly surprised.

Raven turned to them "Run! Get away from here now!" to emphasize her point she took off running in the opposite direction of the building, the crowd of people was not slow to follow.

She could see Starfire darting in and out of the top floors of the building, still searching for people. Cyborg and Beast Boy were with the police, helping to direct people away from the area and holding back transfixed onlookers.

"Where's Robin?" Raven called out to Cyborg.

"Haven't seen him" he yelled back "must still be inside!"

Robin sprinted down the stairs as quickly as he could, he watched the floor numbers go by: 17, 16, 15, 14, 12, 11, 10. Robin tripped over a chair that had been used to prop open a door that he'd missed because of the power failure. He tumbled head long down the stairs. He heard his bones crack with each successive impact, he finally came to a rest at the landing very disoriented, he moaned from the all the pain.

He was facing left, but he rolled his head over to see the cause of the particularly intense pain in his right hand; he saw a piece of wood lying face up, half a dozen nails sticking out of it, the palm of his hand impaled on the endmost one.

Robin got to his knees, he tightened his mussels, tensing up, he put his put his foot on one end of the board. He braced himself for the pain, he grabbed his wrist with his left hand and quickly pulled upward; Robin muffled a cry and got to his feat.

'Could this day get any worse?' As if on cue, the building shuddered violently and began to rumble loudly. 'Oh shit, it's collapsing'.

Forgetting the pain his is hands, his knees and everywhere else Robin began going down the steps like a bat out of hell, going landing to landing, gripping the hand railing as his guide to swing around the corners.

Robin rounded the last corner and leapt for the closed door, he extended his leg and kicked the door off its hinges. He slid onto the smooth marble floor and made a dash for the exit. Robin could see pieces of the building crashing to the ground ahead of him outside; he made for the clearest path and ran headlong through the pane of glass between it and him.

The Titans on the ground watched in horror as the building began to collapse in on itself. People were standing a few hundred yards away, watching in horror as the structure gave way and tumbled down.

"Robin and Star! They're still inside!" Beast Boy exclaimed. Only a moment after he said it a jet of green could be seen bursting from the collapsing building and heading towards them. For what seemed like an eternity, they watched, as the entire building fell to the ground and was obscured by a gargantuan cloud of dust and debris that flowed in all directions and over all of them, extending for blocks throughout the city.

Starfire landed a few seconds later, covered in soot, her closed ripped, her hair a little singed, a somber expression on her face.

"Where is Robin?" Starfire asked.

"Robin…" Cyborg said, staring into the haze.

"Did he not make it here in time?" Starfire continued, puzzled by the strange looks on her friends' faces.

"Starfire," Raven began "Robin was still inside, I think…I think he's—"

"I'm not dead yet." Robin emerged from the cloud into sight of the other Titans. "Though, I feel like it."

Starfire and Raven both ran up and embraced him, but quickly let go when he winced in pain.

"We thought you were toast, man." Cyborg said, visibly relieved that his friendwas alive and trying to lighten the mood a little.

Robin chuckled a little but it turned into a cough from all the smoke and particulates in the air, that they all were breathing into their lungs. "Raven, let's go back to the tower."

Raven nodded and a wall of black energy surrounded them all and they found themselves instantly back in their living room. Raven did a once-over with her powers on Robin, healing the minor fractures, and the scrapes and bruises and even his punctured hand, which had been spilling blood all over their carpet.

Robin quickly described what happened the last few minuets he was inside, and how he got out. Then he turned on the television and turned it to CNN out of habit more than anything, every network was covering it, probably even the cooking channel.

"For those of you just tuning in, a terrible tragedy has occurred today, multiple terror attacks in Jump City, and most recently, Fisher Tower, the tallest skyscraper in the city and victim of at least two of the terrorist bombers, collapsed, it has completely collapsed. It's just not there any more. God…" The anchorman took off his glasses and wiped his eyes quickly and regained his composure.

"We've just received word, the Mayor is giving a press conference, and we're cutting to that now."

The feed cut to a pressroom with a man standing at a podium a blue curtain with the city seal behind him

"Between roughly 8:04 and 8:14 this morning, there were approximately nine explosions across Jump City. So far, we believe that each one of the explosions was the result of a self-detonated bomb, leading us to the conclusion that there were at least nine separate bombers, all coordinated in an attack. Rescue efforts at all sites are underway and even as we speak, survivors are being pulled from the rubble. At this time, we have no reason to suspect any secondary attacks, so don't panic, but please, stay away from the locations as rescue personnel and first responders need to be able to work to save people and the buildings," his voice choked up, a lump caught in his throat "as we…as we now know, can be unstable. Please, for the time being, remain in your homes, and do not make any unnecessary trips. Thank you, that's all I have at this time." The mayor walked away from the podium and off camera. The feed cut back to CNN.

"Robin," Beast Boy asked him "what do we do now?" The other Titans turned to him, he was sitting at the far end of the couch, contemplating; CNN was muted but still playing soundlessly in the background, showing horrendous videos of this morning's events.

"We regroup, we wait." He said, then her turned towards them, the not even noonday sun behind him "This changes everything."

Ok, first chapter done, I truly hope you liked it, this one's shaping up to be my masterpiece (in my twisted little mind anyway) So please tell me what you think, honest opinions and criticisms, and any bits of ideas or advice you think might make it better, b/c you never know, someone's little idea might really help me when I'm writing this thing.


	2. The only thing we have to fear

A/N: Mixed reviews, but that's good, thanks for all of them, it helps me to understand how to improve the story.

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titians, but if I did, Beast Boy totally would have been mauve…

Patriotism is your conviction that this country

is superior to all others because you were born in it.

-George Bernard Shaw

The engine of the Cessna roared to life.

The president appeared on the television, he was behind the desk in the oval office with an American flag on his right and the seal of the president on his left. President Sheppard looked tired, worn, due to the intensity of the past days, but the obvious stress of the situation did not appear on his face and he portrayed the strong and confidante leadership he had become known for.

"My fellows Americans, earlier this week, there were several vicious, unwarranted attacks, as you now know, in Jump City. These attacks are more than just a strike on one American city, they are an assault upon our entire nation…"

The plane turned out of the antiquated rusty hanger and onto the rough, broken concrete, crushing the weeds growing up from between the cracks. It began a slow taxi to one of the few remaining serviceable runways.

"The malicious acts of terrorism were each committed by individual religious fanatics, extremists, that as of now, we believe have no direct connection with foreign governments."

It lifted off from the runway with only a few feet to spare and barely clearing the top of the trees nearby. It began a steep climb and the engine struggled to keep the heavily laden plane aloft.

"They are hostile not only to our great nation and its citizens, but to our very way of life; to the very freedom which we hold so dear. You know, as well as I, however, that the acts of crazed religious fanatics will not break the American spirit."

The plane turned east, the sun shown brilliantly through the clear blue sky. A small white obelisk could be seen far off in the horizon.

"This tragedy has affected us all, but our resolve will not falter…"

The Potomac River came into view, early warning radar hadn't picked up the low flying plane. Fighters were only scrambled after the more advanced detection systems were tripped. The F-16s now tailing behind the plane, broadcasting warning after warning were being ignored.

"We will stand up to this aggression, we will show our resolve. We shall fight it where it lies…"

A missile from a trailing fighter was launched, as it soared towards the Cessna one of the fins on the tail failed and broke loose. The missile veered off course but still managed to find it's mark, exploding just off the tip of left wing and sending the plane into a violent rollover.

"And stop it in its tracks. We will seek out those responsible, we will find where they hide and we shall bring them to justice…"

The Cessna rolled into a dive towards a massive marble building at a 45-degree angle as the left wing splintered apart.

"We cannot allow them to frighten us into submission, and we will not, under any circumstances, allow them to continue, in their reign of terror."

The plane collided with the roof of the Supreme Court Building, engulfing it in a ball of fire.

"We are now a nation awakened by the call to defend our freedom, their actions have only served to fuel our anger, and strengthen our resolve. Whether we bring the men responsible to justice, or bring justice to bear upon them, those Americans, who so bravely gave their lives for our nation will be avenged."

The cameras shut off, the address over. An aid came quickly over to the president bending down to whisper something in his ear, his eyes widened and he bolted up from his desk, heading for the situation room.

The Titans were all in the main living room of the tower, all watching the Presidential address, when it cut away it went back to a news feed with an anchor behind a desk.

"And the President's address to the nation, we have some of our best pundits here to analyze the President's speech. Dr. Johnson, the address was in the mid-afternoon, is that an odd time for a speech such as this?"

"Well, it's not common but also not unheard of, I think—"

"Sorry Dr. Johnson I have to cut you off" the network had not only cut his mic but also severed the satellite link to the three talking heads that were waiting to comment "I have breaking news…we have just received word, that there has been a massive explosion at the Supreme Court building. We have unconfirmed reports that a small, single engine plane crashed into the building setting off a massive explosion and doing a huge amount of damage."

The Titans all jumped up at once from their seats around the room.

"Once again, we have unconfirmed reports of a plane, crashing into the Supreme Court building. We'll try to get definitive reports on this subject and keep you informed and up-to-date as information comes to us…"

Robin turned towards the other Titans, but just as he was about to open his mouth the alarm went off.

Cyborg was nearest to the computer console and he brought up the reason behind the alarm.

"Damn! Cinderblock just staged a jail break let out half the city's villains in the process." Cyborg brought up the security tapes of the city jail.

The Titans watched as a cracked bolt in Cinderblock's restraints gave way and he was able to get free, and on his way outside the walls of the prison, destroy half the cellblock locking devices and a number of bars. Releasing many of the Titan's enemies, who were now running amuck throughout the city.

"We'll stick together and fight them block by block if we have to." The other Titans nodded their heads in agreement "Titans go!"

A white beam of energy hit the Automated Teller Machine and it began to spew out its green contents.

"Ha! This sure beats prison movie night…" the man said, stuffing piles of cash into a sack.

"That's too bad, because you already bought your ticket!" Robin couldn't resist saying a corny line when the opportunity arose, one of the few little luxuries he let himself have…

"The Teen Titans? Don't you have better things to be doing than bothering me?"

"Yeah, actually we do, Dr. Light…" Raven started

"But we figured we'd get you back to your cozy little cell first." Beast Boy finished.

"You can do your best kiddies." Light slung the sack full of cash over his shoulder and sent a beam of light at Robin.

Robin tried to dive out of the way but wasn't quite fast enough and the full force of the beam caught him on his left leg, sending him spiraling away and into a brick wall.

Starfire dived in for the attack, sending a withering barrage of starbolts at him while she speed towards him. Light managed to fire off beam that cut through one of Starfire's green bolts and connected with the alien, knocking her back to earth.

But before he could go back on the offensive, Cyborg charged up a blast from his sonic cannon and fired at him, striking him in the chest, sending him staggering backwards. While he tried to regain his balance a trashcan surrounded in black energy hurtled into him, sending him flying to the street.

Beast Boy transformed into a tiger and pouncing on him, pinning him to the ground and baring quite a few very large, and very sharp teeth in his face.

Cyborg secured Dr. Light while Beast Boy helped Starfire to her feet. Raven flew over to where Robin had landed and extended her hand to help him up.

"You're getting a little slow…" the smallest grin appeared on her lips "You alright?" She asked.

He smiled and took her hand, hoisting himself up "I've never been the speed of light! It's only a couple of scrapes and bruises." He dusted himself off as two officers from a squad car waiting on the edges of the fight came in to haul Light away.

"I'm tellin' ya Jinx, when you're lootin' a whole dang-gum city, magic and bad luck just can't compare with numbers." Said Billy Numerous as they walked down the street, taking what they pleased along the way.

"He's right ya know." another Billy passed them carrying a massive plasma television

"Whatever" Jinx responded "let's just get as much out of this as we can before we have to get out of town."

"Yeah" Gizmo cut in "besides, it's not like—aw crap!" They all stopped dead in the middle of the street.

"Alright, guys, we're just have to going to go through the city block by block, search it street to street, it's not like the villains are going to just walk right up to us…" Robin addressed his team as they all stood in the chaotic city street.

"Uh, Robin." Beast Boy raised one finger in the air.

"What is it Beast Boy?" Said Robin a small bit impatiently, expecting some corny—and probably unfunny—joke.

"The bad guys just walked up to us." He pointed to the street corner just a few yards away.

The Titans all looked to where Beast Boy was pointing and sure enough, standing there were Gizmo, Jinx, and Billy Numerous.

They all stood completely still just staring blankly at each other for a few seconds.

"Holy sh—Titans go!"

Snapping out of their slight shock the Titans charged forward at the rather unlucky bad guys.

The Titans' three foes were not stunned for too long and snapped back into action when Robin ordered his team to attack.

'I've been waitin' to use try this one out on ya!" Cyborg brandished a small electronic disc in his hand, he had his sights set on Gizmo and was running straight for him "I didn't forget what you did, no one changes my internal lighting to pink and gets away with it you little pip-squeak."

The Titans were all running directly at their opponents, Starbolts charged, bodies transformed, Sonic-cannons bristling, dark energy gathering, eyes glowing, Bo staff in hand, power levels at maximum, cloaks billowing, teeth bared, mussels tensed, ears pointed…

But instead of rushing forward to attack the Titans, as they had always done before, the depleted HIVE 5 all turned on their heels and ran back the way they came.

When they saw this, the Titans all halted, right where their enemies had just been standing, they all looked at one another, shocked expressions on their faces.

"Well" Raven said, shrugging her shoulders "shouldn't we go after them?"

"Hell yeah!" Cyborg cheered her on.

"Well don't just stand there, guys" Robin said "let's get 'em"

They all began to run and fly after the villains. The Titans started to gain on them, so the HIVE members began to create obstacles, to slow the Titans down.

Jinx shot bolts of her bad luck wildly behind her; trying to strike a Titan or something that would distract them, while Gizmo kept laying down mines and small robots that shot out webs to stop them.

The Titans were all expertly dodging attack after attack When Jinx saw the water tower only a few yards ahead of them and directly in their path. She fired a bolt of bad luck at the right front leg, causing it to buckle and begin to collapse.

Just as the three bad-guys ran past the dying tower, it could no longer hold itself up and started to fall across the street and right onto the Titans. Raven looked up to the fast falling tower and, raising her hands, sheathed it in black energy, slowing it down long enough for Cyborg and Starfire to both unleash devastating blasts of energy at the water tower and destroying it.

Beast Boy and Robin ran right past the other Titans to keep up the pursuit of the villains but when the tower was vaporized, so was the massive amount of water inside it, quickly blanketing an entire city block in steam and totally obscuring their view of the HIVE.

Even though they could no longer see them, Robin and Beast Boy kept running in the direction they thought their enemies had gone. They didn't see them turning off on a side street only a few yards ahead of them, and they didn't see the other shadows moving through the steam-showered streets.

Robin realized that the other Titans were nowhere near them. 'Why would they have run? They've never done that before…oh man, this is gonna be bad...'

"Beast Boy, stop." Robin called out "we have to regroup with the oth—" Robin was cut-off mid-sentence by a savage punch to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him and sending him to his knees.

Beast Boy tried to react, only to be tripped and then kicked in the side, sending him sliding over the pavement to where Robin was.

Both Titans recovered themselves quickly, they got up and stood back to back, trying to defend against their unseen attackers But when the steam began to clear it became obvious that they were just a little bit out numbered.

At least half of the villains who'd escaped from prison, and a good number of ones who hadn't been caught but knew a good opportunity when they saw it, were surrounding them. Beast Boy turned his head towards Robin, both still in fighting stances

"Things don't look too good, Robin."

"I think we can take 'em Beast Boy."

"Bold words, Robin…" One of the villains said, sending a chill down their spines. The voice was unmistakable, the low, smooth, mocking, terrifying voice, Robin knew much better than he ever wanted to, Slade.

"Do you really think you can 'take' _all _of us?"


	3. Enemies Foreign and Domestic

A/N: Great thanks to my **_one_** reviewer…come on people, is it really all that hard? Anyway…anyone worried about me slandering other (real) people and their respective religions can relax, I don't really plan on doing that anytime soon. Again, I had other things keeping me from getting this out more quickly; a friend of mine was in from Europe for the week so I didn't get anything done, I'm trying to do it as quickly as my own standard will allow.

Disclaimer: Please keep your tray-tables in the upright and locked positions and keep your seatbelt fastened at all times when seated. There are two exits in the front of the plane, two in the middle, and two located in the rear of the aircraft. The cabin of this aircraft is pressurized; in the event of depressurization masks will drop down from the ceiling, place the cup over your nose and mouth and secure the strap in the back, put on your own mask before helping others. In the event of an emergency landing in water, your seat cushion may be used as a flotation device. Furthermore, on this flight, I do not own Teen Titans.

Desperation is sometimes as powerful an inspirer as genius.   
Benjamin Disraeli

"Yo, where's Robin and BB?" Cyborg yelled to Raven and Starfire, who were hovering some 20 feet above the ruins of the water tower.

"We cannot see them from up here, the steam has obscured the streets."

Cyborg could only just make out the forms of his teammates through the mist, the purple of Starfire's clothes and her vibrant red hair, muted by the haze. He switched his cybernetic eye from the visible light spectrum to an infrared band and turned in the direction he thought Beast Boy and Robin had gone.

Far off down the road, he couldn't miss the massive light-show put on by dozens of people, all moving around erratically, still more on the ground, breathing, but not doing much else.

And there were two distinct signs, a little ways off from the teeming mass, it was too far away to tell, but Cyborg knew it was Robin, and someone else, fighting it out.

"I see 'em!" Cyborg called up to Raven and Starfire "there about 400 feet ahead of us" Cyborg gestured in their direction to his teammates, who came in closer to make out where he was pointing "and their waist deep in bad guys!"

Cyborg, Raven, and Starfire all rushed off into the steam towards their friends.

A massive green tail smashed into Adonis, sending scales, circuits and metal flying. The armor-clad man flew with the inertia into a brick wall, sending it crashing down onto his already dilapidated form.

The T-Rex Beast Boy tore a swath through a group of nameless criminals of every kind, knocking them every which way and putting them out of commission, it seemed to him as though the only ones who had escaped were rather pathetic.

"Ha! Take this!" Control Freak challenged using his remote to summon a large dinosaur that looked a lot like Beast Boy. "Not even you can stand up to the mighty Allosaurus!"

Beast Boy had turned to face Control Freak's creation, he bared his teeth at it as it let out a terrifying roar and squared its stance towards him. Beast Boy and the creature charged each other but his foe was faster, taking a massive bite at his exposed neck; only to have Beast Boy charge right through it.

"How did you get past the Allosaurus from Cretaceous Land?" The disheartened Control Freak asked Beast Boy as he reverted back to himself in front of the defeated 'villain'.

"Dude…" Beast Boy said exasperatedly, with the other beast still snapping away at him "it's just a hologram…" he swiped his arm through the dinosaur's head as he finished, causing it to disintegrate away.

Pathetic didn't even _begin_ to cover it.

A gloved fist found its mark and landed squarely in the solar plexus of the target, but the body that was struck didn't move, it didn't even recoil from the blow, on of the body's hands merely knocked the other away.

A massive steel and leather boot on and equally formidable leg came crashing down at near inhuman speed; the gloved forearms brought up together to block it gave way with little resistance and the crushingly powerful kick smashed into Robin's shoulder.

A sickening 'pop' could be heard, as his shoulder was dislocated easily and he collided with the pavement.

Robin only just barely managed to scramble out of the way as Slade's powerful fist dug a small crater in the street where his head had been a moment before. The Boy Wonder quickly got to his feet and faced down Slade for the second time in as many minuets.

Though the fight had only been going on for a few short minuets, Robin showed signs of fatigue his breathing was ragged, he was breathing fire and wasn't cooling down.

He sported more than a few injuries, in addition to his left arm, hanging limp beside him; Scrapes and bruises under his costume, covering exposed skin and seen around its edges, tears in the fabric, revealing large gashes slowly dripping blood.

Slade, on the other had, seemed as cool and confident as ever; he still held that same swagger and sense of superiority, it looked as though he hadn't even broken a sweat.

He could see a massive black eye creeping out from the edges of Robin's mask, from a punch he took a few seconds into the fight, when he was still a little too cocky for Slade's taste.

"Come now Robin…is that the best you can do?" Slade mockingly asked.

"I'm going to put you in prison where you belong." Robin growled through gritted teeth, his icy glare seemingly having no effect on the villain.

"Bold words for a _boy_. Especially bold for a little bird with only one wing." Slade continued in his severely condescending tone.

Robin looked from Slade to his left arm then back at his archenemy. He took a half step over towards a lamppost on the sidewalk; he grabbed hold of his bicep, and, never losing his glare at Slade, popped his shoulder back into place. He bit down hard, and only a small hiss of pain could be heard as he sucked air in through his teeth.

"Not bad, Robin, not bad at all." Slade still mocked him "Are you ready for more then?"

Robin reached into his belt producing another collapsible bo staff and took a fighting stance. An escaped convict attempted to jump onto him from behind but Robin simply sidestepped his attack and hit him in the back of the head with his staff, knocking the man to the ground, unconscious.

"It's a little too crowded here, Robin. Don't you think?" But before Robin could respond Slade ran into a nearby alleyway, and Robin wasted no time in pursuing his foe. As he rounded the corner a black, metal staff swung at his head and he brought his own up to block it.

Robin launched into a furious attack against Slade, he pulled no punches, or kicks for that matter as he battled with Slade down the length of the brick alleyway, driving the villain back a step with each attack. His and Slade's staffs collided again and again, the sound of metal on metal reverberating up and down the windowless walls.

Robin was giving his attacks all the strength and ferocity he could muster and it appeared to be working as he drove Slade towards the opposite opening of the alley. Slade cleared the opening on the right side of the alley as the building ended; he clashed with Robin, their staffs meeting in the middle.

They stared each other down across the metal bars, Slade looming over Robin but seeming matched in strength, Robin began to push Slade back even further and it seemed as though he was winning until Slade spun to Robin's right and swung his staff low with one hand and knocked Robin's right leg out from under him.

Robin brought his staff up above him in expectation of an attack but none came, he stared up at the overcast gray sky for a second then lifted his head to see where Slade had gone.

The villain was nowhere around him so he quickly sprung to his feet. Robin could smell the salt, heavy on the air and could hear the seagulls overhead. They were at the docks. For a fleeting second, Robin thought he saw Slade's distinctive mask against the rusty steel background of a nearby warehouse, Robin took off, running parallel to the large shipping containers and crates lined up in massive rows, looking down each one for any sign of Slade.

He reached a door on the side the warehouse and cracked it open, looking inside for his enemy. It was nearly pitch-black inside but he could make out the silhouettes of old containers and the steel catwalks lining the ceiling.

Robin opened the door all the way, slowly and stepped inside, the light pouring in from outside made little dent in the darkness permeating the vast, open warehouse. He reached into his utility belt and pulled out a few small plastic tubes, he took the bundle in each hand and cracked them in the middle, causing the chemical reaction in the glow sticks to flare up and shine far brighter than normal ones.

He tossed them as far as he could into the middle of the dark chasm, scattering them slightly and giving the room a small amount more of ambient light; small green islands in a see of darkness.

"Come out Slade, I know you're in here…or are you too _scared_?" Robin mocked Slade, trying to drive him out of hiding.

The light of the far most glow stick created an outline of a figure as it stepped up into view. Slade took a fighting stance, his staff in hand; he held out his hand and motioned for Robin to come at him.

Robin laughed somewhat, inwardly at the tired old cliché and took his own stance. Not being one to disappoint, Robin charged Slade, twirling his staff over his head, he jumped into the air and brought it down in a strike at Slade, who had brought up own staff up to block it.

Where as the Boy Wonder had been holding his own, even winning, down the alley, it looked as if Slade had only been toying with him and Robin's attacks were now blocked before they could even land, and even those that did find their mark seemed to have little to no effect.

After a few minuets of Robin attacking him intensely Slade went on the offensive; he grabbed Robin's wrist as he struck out with a punch but before the surprised teen could rend his arm out of the villain's grasp Slade twisted his arm around and kicked him squarely in the back.

Robin felt a sharp, intense pain as Slade's steel-soled boot connected with the middle of his spine, his staff left his grasp and clattered to the concrete floor somewhere across the warehouse, lost in the darkness. His feet left the ground as he flew forward and tumbled to the ground, coming to a rest up against a set of stairs.

He got to his feet as quickly as he could manage but Slade was already on him. Robin barely evaded Slade's fist, which crashed into one of the metal steps, putting a large dent in it. Robin quickly scrambled up the steeps backwards, avoiding every attack from Slade that he could as the masked man methodically advanced on him.

Robin reached into his belt and pulled out a disk, he hurled it at Slade as the villain was mid swing. The disk exploded on Slade's forearm, encasing it in several inches of ice. Robin thought he had scored a small victory, but that thought was quickly erased from his mind, as Slade looked at his forearm, undaunted, he brought it down like a sledgehammer against Robin's chest.

'Great' he thought 'I made Slade even _more_ deadly.' Robin evaded a second devastating strike aimed this time at his head, and then a third as Slade brought his fist straight down, right between Robin's legs. Robin breathed an inward sigh of relief, seeing where Slade's fist was and where he had just been, and thanking god for his quick reflexes.

Slade swung his arm at Robin's head once again, but Robin leaned back and the ice was mercifully shattered against one of the bolts in the wall. Slade didn't even pause for a second as he continued to attack the Boy Wonder.

Robin was beginning to crack under the pressure of Slade's withering attacks; his foe raised his arms above his head and brought down his own staff, trying to drive it through Robin. He caught Slade's staff just a few inches above his neck; he strained against Slade with all his strength, but the staff was closing in on the Boy Wonder a few millimeters at a time.

With one huge burst of strength Robin threw everything he had into it, forcing the staff back and using his momentum to get up off the stairs, he pushed even harder on the staff. The already off-balance Slade started to fall backwards before he used his own momentum to flip backwards and land a few steeps down from where he had been.

Slade's maneuvering had given Robin just enough time to take the last few steeps two at a time and pull out another bo-staff. He wasted no time in running down the catwalk, but he stopped halfway across and turned to face Slade, who was at the other end.

The light from Robin's glow sticks, so far below them, had little effect on the conditions; their only source of light was coming from a single small hole in the degraded tin roof.

Robin squared off his fighting stance, his staff held out in front of him in a ready position. Slade was staring him down from the other end of the catwalk, his own staff in hand. Slade silently began to walk forward; he made almost no sound on the steel grate beneath him, the product of many years of training and expertise. His walk quickened, and as he neared Robin he picked up the pace even more, breaking into a full sprint.

As Slade neared, Robin began running towards him and the two fighters clashed at great speed. Their staffs flew furiously around one another, each clash sending a loud clang of metal throughout the empty building.

After less than a minuet of combat, Robin zigged when he should have zagged and Slade got his staff under the middle of Robin's, wrenching it from his hands and sending it colliding with the hole in the roof and going straight on through, making the whole above Robin's head considerably bigger.

Robin was staring down Slade, weaponless, and alone.

"Tsk, tsk, Robin, I thought you could do much better than _that_." Slade said in his normally condescending tone.

"Who says I'm done yet…" Robin said defiantly.

'Shit, this isn't good,' Slade was about to attack, Robin could sense it. He tensed up his muscles 'only got one shot at this, I gotta make it work.'

Slade lurched forward to attack Robin, but the Boy Wonder was actually faster than him for once. He kicked of either guardrail on the catwalk, launching himself at Slade. However, instead of attacking him, Robin used Slade's shoulder to propel himself up towards the ceiling, he tucked in his arms and just barely cleared the edges of the small whole and landing of the roof.

'He sense my attack…' Slade thought 'he has learned more from our encounters than I thought.'

Robin took a few steps back from the whole, knowing what was next. Not but a second later, Slade burst forward into the sunlight, widening the hole even more and sending bits of tin every which way.

This time Robin took the initiative; he wasted no time in unleashing his attacks against his opponent. He slowly drove Slade back towards the edge of the roof, dodging Slade's kicks and the swings of his staff. He landed blow after blow on the masked villain and they finally seemed to be having some sort of effect.

Slade lunged out with his Staff in one hand, attempting to impale Robin, only to have his weapon stripped away by the Boy Wonder, who had found his second wind. Robin had forced Slade to the very edge of the warehouse's roof; Slade casually glanced behind him, to see that the bay expanded far out from where they were.

Robin could see his home just behind Slade's left shoulder, there was only the bay behind Slade, he had nowhere to go.

"Give it up Slade, I've got you."

"Perhaps you presume too much, little bird. But, It does appear that way doesn't it?" Slade said calmly, as if he was in situations like this every day. "But, before you…_take me in_…doesn't it seem excessive to have armed guards for offloading crates marked "Xerox Paper"? Slade offered casually, nodding his head in the direction.

"What?" Robin asked, somewhat taken aback. He looked over to where Slade had nodded, and sure enough, a few men with MP5 submachine guns were standing around a small transport ship, while others unloaded crates clearly maker "Xerox Paper".

"Ok, I'll look into it in a minuet, but first your" Robin turned his head back to where Slade was, only to find his staff pointed at nothing but sky "going…down—town…damnit." He looked over the edge, but only saw the deep blue water washing up against the concrete seawall. Slade was nowhere to be seen.

Robin turned back towards the men unloading the crates 'He did have a point…' he thought 'that is a little…_off_.'

Robin grappled onto a nearby stack of shipping containers and swung to the gravel below, skidding to a stop only a few dozen yards away from one of the guards and quickly concealing himself behind one of the massive containers.

Robin looked cautiously around the corner, the man was facing away from him, he stopped his patrol for a moment, reaching to his belt and taking up a walkie-talkie, he said something into it in a language Robin couldn't recognize.

He silently crept up behind the man and knocked him out with his newly acquired staff. The man fell to the ground, unconscious, and Robin moved past him, closing in on the boat. He came to the side of the truck where they were loading the crates, there was only one man standing in front of the back.

Robin quickly rendered him unconscious too and he dragged his comatose form into the truck and out of site. He turned towards one of the crates and used his staff to pop the lid of the crate off.

"Surprise, surprise…" Robin said to himself as he looked at the contents of the crate: six rockets, about 5 foot long each, laid out side to side on top of the crate. "Great, this is just great."

A man yelled something in the language Robin couldn't recognize and he whirled around to find that the two men who had been offloading the crates were standing at the end of the ramp up the back of the truck. The men and Robin looked at each other for a few seconds, then Robin rushed forward, the one of the men dropped his end of the crate, causing it to crash onto his partner's feet. The man reached for a gun in his belt, only to have a birdarang fly at him, pinning his shirtsleeve to the crate.

He reached up to pull it out, but before he could close his hand around it, Robin punched him in the face, and the man fell to his knees, the birdarang still holding up his arm. Robin thought about pulling the man out from under the crate, he was screaming in pain from the way it had landed on and pinned his feet, but before he could act on it the place erupted in gun fire.

The bullets just missed him and struck the trapped man several times in the chest, killing him instantly and spraying Robin with a fair amount of his blood; one of the sentries had head the commotion and opened fire.

Robin dove towards the ship, taking cover behind another set of containers, blood dripped down his face but he didn't have anytime to wipe it off 'Shit, these guys show no mercy, they just offed their own man.'

Robin looked back around the corner; the only other guard had joined the second one, but jerked his head back quickly when the men began shooting at him again. Robin reached into his belt and pulled out a few small black balls, he threw them, hard, against the ground just past the edge of the containers; they exploded in large puffs of gray dust, creating a smoke screen.

The guards began to shoot into the smoke Robin had created, trying to get the Boy Wonder before he could advance on them. They had underestimated him, however, which they realized too late as Robin appeared next to the one closest to the ship, grabbing his gun and clod-cocking him, the second man reared his gun at Robin, only to find the magazine empty, with only a light 'click' emitting from it.

"My turn…" Robin said menacingly, following it up by kicking the man in the chest, sending him flying into the adjacent containers.

The sirens were off but the flashing lights remained, the FBI and Jump City police inspected the area, checking all the crates, and the coroner examined the suspect shot by his own man. The rest of the terrorists were sitting in squad cars, waiting to be questioned back at the station.

The other Titans had gathered around Robin, having arrived only a few minuets before the police because Robin had called 9-1-1 just after contacting them. He explained what happened quickly, wanting to get back to the tower and put all everything that had happened together.

"…And Slade was gone, then I came down here, took these guys out, and called you guys." Robin left out the part about Slade pointing out the terrorists.

"Well thank god you found this stuff, man." Cyborg said after a few seconds of silence.

"But Slade got away, again…_I finally had him_."

"These would have done a lot of damage, Robin." Raven added.

"Look at it this way, Robin: it could have been worse." Beast Boy interjected, trying to lighten the mood.

Not more than a second after he said it, as if on cue, half a dozen news media vans pulled up to them and reporter after reporter filed out, all with a camera and a live feed.

"Great…" Robin muttered.

"How did you know that the men were terrorists?" A voice from behind the camera asked, "Now that the escaped villains are contained, what do you plan to do?" another added "You foiled a terrorist plot, do you think that will make you an even bigger hero?" the questions kept on coming, despite Robin's movement and lack of response "Does being a vigilante, infringing on people's Civil Rights, fulfill some repressed sexual desire?"

"**Turn that off.**" Robin demanded, as the Robin on the massive TV screen looked slightly astonished, just before the TV shut off.

"Hey man, now that you're a nationally known superhero, _you're gonna get the tough questions…_" Cyborg said, unable to contain his laughter, Beast Boy was also laughing hysterically on the other end of the couch, Starfire too, was giggling at Cyborg's joke, even Raven had a very subtle grin on her face.

Robin did not look amused.

"You know…" he offered calmly, the others still barely able to contain their laughter "you guys really shouldn't stay up this late when we have combat training this morning at 6…" He finished, a sly grin on his face.

The other Titans all gaped at him, they knew he wasn't joking, they all grumbled to themselves as the made towards their respective rooms.

Robin cracked his knuckles and put his hands behind his head "It's good to be the leader…" He made his way back to his own room; unconsciously fondling the now collapsed staff he had taken from Slade in his pocket.


	4. Things Will Change

A/N: I like where this is headed, and the ideas I have laid out ahead, I just hope you do too.

Disclaimer: I'd say something funny, but whoever owns the Teen Titans probably has a copyright on comedy too, needless to say, I have neither.

Men willingly believe what they wish.

-Julius Caesar

"And the last attack only shows how weak the Sheppard Administration is: soft on crime, weak on drugs, and weak on defense. Don't you agree?" A slick looking man in a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie turned from the camera towards Robin, who was sitting beside him; dressed in his uniform, with the unmistakable look of a teenager on a political punditry show who was in way over his head.

"Well…"

"Yes, it's unmistakable." The commentator pressed on, not even giving Robin a chance to respond. "Do you see the failure of Sheppard's security policies in that, you, had to stop the terrorists, or in the fact that they were already in the country at all?"

Robin was becoming very frustrated and it was starting to show. He was by no stretch a bad public speaker, and he could more than hold his own in even the most erudite conversations with Raven and even with Bruce; however, this man's job was to be as loud and outspoken as possible, make his guests uncomfortable, then talk in circles until he got them to say something in agreement with his point. And now he was going around Robin.

"I think I was just in the right place, at the right time, and I have every confidence that the law enforcement agencies in the area would have stopped them before they could have done any harm." Robin said coolly, trying to regain some ground from the pushy commentator.

"But don't you think that it is at least _possible_ that the attacks these freedom hating terrorists could have been carried out had you not stopped them."

"Well, I...suppose, it's _possible_…" Robin regretted the words just as soon as he said them.

"Just like I said, and now because you saved America once again, and in an even more critical time, you are an even bigger and better known hero."

"I…um, yeah I guess." The "compliment" had caught Robin slightly off guard, just as it was supposed to.

"Given a choice between a free, safe, America, and one ruled by liberal anarchists who would welcome terrorists in through the front door, which would you pick?"

"Well obviously the first one…" Robin started but the pundit cut him off again.

"Of course that's what you want, and don't you think that America needs a strong, god-fearing, freedom loving American to lead it; America First?"

"Yes, without a doubt." For about the 30th time that night, Robin regretted the words that had just come out of his mouth 'America First!' that was a campaign slogan…Robin put his face in his hands as the man turned back towards the camera.

"There you have it, straight from the mouth of America's own defender, Robin, leader of the Teen Titans has officially given his team's unequivocal support to Senator Fletcher and his campaign."

He kept going, and Robin wondered if the man ever actually had to breathe.

"That's all for tonight on _The O'Hare Dynamic_, join us tomorrow night when Ann Coulter tells us in her new book how the separation of powers is a myth created by liberal activist judges."

"And…we're out…" the set director said as the extra spotlights overhead went dark.

Sam O'Hare turned his chair back to face Robin "You were great kid, you did better than half the brain-dead liberals I have on this show." He laughed very loud and hard at his own joke. Robin forced a small chuckle and tried his best to smile somewhat.

"Thanks" he said through gritted teeth. Robin quickly rose from his seat next to the pundit, and, without another word, made his way to the stage door. He could hear the low rumble of swiftly falling rain as he approached the exit door. As he opened the door it was caught by the fiercely blowing wind and driven against the side of the building, Robin moved to the other side of it, bracing himself against the door and forcing it closed.

The pounding rain, driven even faster by the relentless wind, stinging every square inch of Robin's exposed skin was only made worse by the fact that it was also quite cold. And Robin merely managed to compound his problem with the weather when he hopped on his motorcycle and headed back towards the tower.

"…liberal activist judges." A remote control pointed at the TV and it shut off. A man in a black suit sat at the end of a large conference table, he turned from the TV back to the table, lined on both sides with men and a few women, all dressed in very formal business attire. They all had smiles on their faces, and the looks of a person who had found out they had the winning lotto ticket the day before the drawing.

The man in the black suit stood up from his chair "Ladies, Gentlemen…Senator" he added, gesturing with his arm to a gruff, stoic, coarse, mean, looking man at the opposite end of the table from him, eliciting a laugh from everyone "this may just be the nail in the coffin of the Sheppard campaign…"

"Thank God." One man interjected, producing even more laughs.

"Agreed, Jerry. A roundabout endorsement from the Teen Titans' leader, only Sam could have pulled that one off, good call on getting him hired at FOX instead of with us, Amy." He nodded at a women a few seats down from him on his left. "But I digress…as chairman of _Fletcher for America_ I say with every confidence..." he turned towards Senator Fletcher at the opposite end of the table "…to all of you, that we are going to take total control of the federal government."

He paused as the dozen people all cheered and applauded, he motioned for them to quiet down and when they had complied, he continued "We're ahead in most of the Senate races taking place, and we expect to increase our majority in the house by at least 40 seats…"

"God bless gerrymandering!" One woman shouted, eliciting laughs from everyone at the table.

"Yes, yes, and, with…that" the Senator had stood up, he gathered a stack of papers and placed them in a briefcase he produced from underneath the table "we'll end this meeting." The others at the table had risen and were preparing to leave as well "Let's go out there tomorrow and win this thing. Oh, and…don't forget to vote."

"The Fletcher campaign, down nearly 20 in the polls only two weeks ago, has now become a veritable juggernaut, with many large donors switching their party support, and the small grass-roots movement in favor of Senator Fletcher has gained tens of thousands of new activists. With many high-profile commentators and celebrities of all sorts, the most recent being the saviors of Jump City—the Teen Titans—Michael Fletcher is now showing a 27 point lead over the reelection campaign of President Sheppard and his party, and is poised to not only sweep into the White House, but also both houses of Congress, and many state legislatures, with a mandate not seen since Franklin D. Roosevelt 74 years ago."

Cyborg and Raven were both watching the television, with him on the couch and her floating a few feet off the ground near the windows, a book open in her hands, somewhat attempting to look as though she were reading it, though the rain and the newscast had long ago distracted her. Starfire too, was watching it, but with only half-hearted interest as she played with silky on the floor nearby. Beast Boy however, was totally oblivious to it all as he worked away in the kitchen, preparing some sort of tofu dish for himself.

The large steel doors on the elevator slid aside to reveal a rain-soaked Robin, who looked none to pleased.

All the Titans looked at him, Cyborg muted the TV and for a moment, it was quite enough to hear the drops of water falling off of Robin and splash into the puddle quickly growing beneath his feet. Robin slowly began walking from the elevator towards the main hallway. Cyborg was the first to say anything.

"Hey…Robin, when did we, uh, when did the Titans start endorsing political candidates?"

"It shouldn't have happened." Was Robin's only reply; he was almost to the first door in the hallway, which lead to one of the training rooms, when Cyborg stepped in front of the door.

"This is pretty bad man, we can't be seen in favor or supporting anyone running for office, it's unethical for us to use our positions to do that." He said, his arms folded.

"God damnit, Cyborg!" Robin slammed his fist against the wall. "Don't you think I know that?" Robin sighed in frustration, "I know…just, get out of my way." Cyborg stepped aside; he knew not to get in Robin's way when the Boy Wonder wanted to blow off some steam. He quickly entered the training room and the door shut just as fast behind him.

"He's not angry at me, he's angry at himself, he lost control of the situation, and it cost him, cost _us_." Cyborg explained to the stunned looking Titans.

"I don't get it" Beast Boy looked up at Cyborg from the training room door "why dose that really affect us?"

"Because, Beast Boy" Cyborg started, "we have to be neutral in these kinds of things, otherwise it's unfair to whatever side we don't support, we do have a sort of influence in our own way, and we have to treat that power just like our physical ones, and use restraint."

"On top of that, our legal status is…is kind of in a gray area, and stepping outside our understood duties of fighting crime and saving the world and such, calls attention to it, especially if we get into politics, because they make the laws, and the last thing we need are laws making _us_ the criminals." Raven offered, hoping to clear that blank look off of Beast Boy's face, indicating he didn't understand what had been said.

Still seeing his puzzled expression, Cyborg tried again "Think of it this way, BB. It's like if the Pope told people in Italy who they should vote for…" he finished.

"Wait, I thought the Pope lived in the Vatican…" Beast Boy said, scratching his head as the other Titans nearly fell to the floor.

"I should never have done that damn interview." Robin mumbled angrily to himself as he punched the cylindrical bag hanging from one piece of the workout equipment. Not satisfied with his own attacks he switched to kicking the bag "I let that asshole get me off balance and that was it." Robin stopped for a moment to catch his breath, sweat beaded on the already soaked Boy Wonder and quickly dropped to the floor. "Bruce always said 'Stay away from the media,'" he picked up his attacks again as he beat ferociously upon the bag "'they'll only cause you trouble…' he said." "Why the hell didn't I listen to him? I can't believe I listened to those sniveling worms, telling me how great the publicity for us would be. Damnit!"

With an exasperated yell Robin launched another series of attacks on his inanimate foe, Robin could hear the strain on the metal holding the bag as he pounded away but he ignored it, continuing to pummel it until the chain connecting it to the metal bar overhead snapped and the bag fell to the ground in the middle of Robin's swing.

"Son-of-a-bitch!" He cried out in frustration, kicking the bag, sending it rolling across the room. He may have broken the punching bag, but he wasn't done working off his aggression.

Robin moved to the middle of the room, where the sparing ring was painted on the floor. He took the small, collapsed version of the staff he had taken from Slade, it had the same kind of activation switch on it which he pressed, the staff almost instantly sprang out, expanding to full size. It was almost identical to Robin's own staffs apart from its length, at least six inches longer than his, which could be attributed to Slade's height, it was black, but what Robin noticed most, was that it was no more than half the weight of the staffs he used.

"It's so damn light." Robin though out loud. He figured it must be made of some sort of carbon fiber and metal composites. Real high-tech stuff, twice as light and probably five or ten times stronger than his own. "Well, I'll just have to put it to the test then, won't I?" He spun the staff around in his hands, switching it back and forth from hand to hand, he brought it around in a strike on an invisible target behind him, spinning around to meet the invisible threat, but stopped in the middle of his swing.

'God it's fast,' he thought, appraising the staff again 'no wonder Slade's always quicker than me…' he walked over to a small stand at the edge of the sparing ring, he typed a few commands into the computer console and hit a button, activating the training system.

A hole opened in the floor of the ring, and up through it, slowly rose a robot, it's size, shape, and configuration almost identical to the robot copies of himself that Slade had used to toy with Robin so many times before.

When the robot became level with the floor, it took a menacing fighting stance; its two red eyes began glowing threateningly. The robot simply held its stance with perfect precision, waiting for Robin to start the program. "_Select difficulty level_." A soft, female computerized voice prompted.

"Set Difficulty level seven." Robin said gruffly, his back to the robot as he walked to the other side of the ring, stowing the staff back in his utility belt.

"_Begin match_." The computer's voice stated and the robot lunged forward to attack Robin. He let the robot come straight at him, and when it began attacking him he simply dodged most of the blows it tried to land while only blocking a few. He did not even take so much as one step back from the attacking automaton before he grabbed an incoming punch and twisted the robot's wrist so it lost its balance and fell to its knees, where Robin kicked it in the chest, sending it sprawling several feet away.

"Raise difficulty, level ten" Robin commanded, to which the computer replied, "_Level raised_."

The robot almost instantly sprung to its feet and assumed another fighting stance, analyzing Robin for a moment, then launching into another series of attacks much more advanced than before.

Robin began to block the attacks, letting the android push him back, he then switched to blocking with only his left hand as he reached inside his belt and extracted his newly acquired staff, expanding it to its full length. But the robot proved quicker than Robin only fighting with one hand, as it moved next to him, throwing it's leg behind him and tripping him up. It pounced on the Boy Wonder, while Robin held it just off of himself with the staff.

The two struggled on the floor for a few moments before Robin was able to get a foot underneath the machine. He kicked the robot off with a yell, he sprung to his feet, then hurled his staff like a javelin, impaling the robot, and pinning it to the wall, where it twitched for a few seconds, attempting to remove the staff before it fell limp and the glow in its eyes faded away.

"End program." Robin said before extracting the staff from the wall and putting it back in his belt. He walked to the door and opened it, hearing the TV just a few yards down the hall he walked towards the living room.

"And you know, these reckless 'heroes' go around, beating up people and throwing them to the cops where they are put in prison, usually without a real trial. And now they are using their glorified place in society to unduly influence things in which they should have no say. These people are nothing more than feckless vigilantes who destroy citizen's civil rights day in and day out…"

"Please turn that off." Robin moaned to his teammates, who had taken a keen interest in the cable news broadcast. Cyborg shut the TV off and the team turned towards Robin, who was standing in the middle of the hallway, some 15 feet from the couch. "Guys, I just wanted to, to apologize, for what happened, I've put us all at risk in a way we can't simply fight our way out of. That's why, as of right now, I'm resigning my position as team leader, and from the Teen Titans." He finished, hanging his head.

"Like hell you are!" The four other Titans all cried out in unison. Robin lifted his head, taken aback at their force.

"You messed up, pretty bad, but we've all done stupid stuff before, and probably will again." Beast Boy offered.

"Plus," Cyborg continued "We've been looking into Fletcher, and when he gets elected, we're going to need you, the guys borderline crazy, there's no telling what laws he's gonna get passed."

"Also, now that Slade is back, you're going to need us." Raven picked up "Because we know you would just go right out and drive yourself to death looking for him."

"And we most certainly do not want that to happen." Starfire finished.

"Thanks for your confidence guys, but one thing…did you rehearse this before I came out of the training room?" The other Titan's looked away, and all whistled a different, predominantly off-key, tune. "That's just…weird." He sighed, shaking his head.

"Ok, guys" Cyborg said "it's pretty late now, and we all have to be up early, you three will be on patrol most of the early morning with out us because Robin and me have to vote."

"He's right," Robin interjected "the last thing we need is for something to happen on Election Day, so we'll follow the old Chicago adage 'vote early, vote often.' And then we'll guard the city until the polls close."

The Titans all said goodnight to each other and wend to their respective rooms. They would have been on heightened alert tomorrow anyway, but given the events of the past few weeks, they were going to take every precaution they could and prepare for the unexpected.

"Robin…" Cyborg called softly to his leader, as they were both at their doors, the met each other at the middle of the hallway. "What do you think is going to happen, man?"

"I don't really know Cy, but whatever does happen, things will change."

A/N: There's one more chapter after this before what I see as a logical break in the story, I may do a different story in between that and the 'sequel' as I have a few ideas kicking around, but I'll burn that bridge when I come to it.


	5. Sheppard for President

A/N: Just like I said in the last chapter (if anyone read it that is) there's a logical break I can see coming up, not as soon as I thought, but not that far off. I may get right to work on the next part, but I do have a lot of ideas floating around as well as a story on hiatus…and one I'm not to proud to say I pretty much abandoned, so we'll see. And I'd like to thank all my reviewers so far, it's dumb, but they do give me some confidence, so thank you all.

Disclaimer: If I were President I would own the Teen Titans; sadly, I am and do, not.

-

Politics would be a helluva good business if it weren't for the goddamned people.

-Richard Nixon

"And now, an address from the President of the United States." An announcer's voice informed viewers while TV screens were still filled by a picture of the Presidential seal. Sheppard came on the screen, seated in the oval office, an American flag behind him on his left and a flag bearing his seal on his right, a stern; yet compassionate expression on his face, worn by the past weeks of intense stress. He looked very Presidential

"My fellow Americans…I know what the polls say, and I know what the talking heads say, and I know your concerns and I know sow your fears, I know what you must be thinking, but I also know what it is that you want, and what this nation needs. I…" He paused and looked down at the paper on his desk in front of him. He considered it for a few seconds, he then closed the folder it was in and pushed it to one side.

"I know I may not changer your mind, in fact, I know I probably won't but I will be honest with you, as I have been these past 4 years. I do not seek a second term not because of what I have accomplished, but because of what remains undone. There are still countless dreams unfulfilled, ageless problems yet to be solved, and nameless masses, whose cries for help go unanswered. I seek a second term not for personal glory or individual gain, but because I see this country, which I love so dearly, on a perilous path, one from which we will all to soon, be unable to recover from." He paused only for a second as he shifted somewhat in his seat.

"The great Robert F. Kennedy once said 'What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence or lawlessness; but love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or they be black.' And while he was speaking in a time when there was so much strife over one's race, it has never ceased to be true, in this great nation, we must be united with one another, against those that seek to do us harm, and I, cannot sit idly by, while the principles upon which this nation was founded—the very ideals our fathers and brothers went to war for, the ideals they fought for, the ideals they _died_ for—are so carelessly cast aside. As long as I am President, I will fight with all I have, with every resource at my command, and in every way I know how, to preserve this nation, our hard won freedom, and our way of life. Thank you, and God bless America."

The camera stopped broadcasting with the overhead lighting turning off only a few seconds later, the President unclipped the mic from his lapel and got up from his desk. Walking over to where his aids were standing, he couldn't help but notice their dumbstruck expressions.

"Is there a problem?" He asked casually.

"Oh, oh…no sir." One woman snapped back out of her daze in time to answer the President's question. "It was just well…unexpected…" she managed to find the right word in time with the others all nodding their heads in agreement.

"That was the idea, Liz. The way I see it, I'm going to lose, I had something to say, I'm the President, so I said it. Any problems with that." Replied, an air of confidence in his voice.

The five close aids all responded with a 'No, Mr. President.' After which he dismissed them. With the camera crew gone he was the only person left in the twilight lit Oval Office, just before sundown the only other human beings near him being the Secret Service agents outside each of the doors. President Sheppard plunked down in his large, comfortable swivel chair, the one he'd brought with him from the Governor's office four years ago, and from the Mayor's office eight years before that. He pulled the stopper out of the crystal decanter on his desk; he tilted it, spilling its thick amber contents into a tumbler, filling it halfway. 'The polls close in two hours…' He chuckled somewhat, to himself 'and five in the west…if I get a one point boost from that I'll be amazed' He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip from his drink, and staring into the setting sun.

-

"Cyborg. How's it look over in the third district?" Robin's voice asked from the communicator in his hand. He brought it up to chest level, flipping it open while still looking around him from any sign of trouble as the Boy Wonder appeared on the tiny screen.

"So far, nothing out of the ordinary, except of course for the fact that in the downtown of one of the largest cities in the country, on a presidential election day, there have only been a few thousand people who have shown up…it's ridiculous!" He declared in aggravation.

"I know what you mean; it's the same here. Raven and Starfire both reported the exact same thing, and even though I haven't checked in with Beast Boy yet, I bet it's the same there too. It's been like that all over the country."

"Yeah, it seems like that bastard's video had the effect he wanted." Cyborg sighed heavily, shaking his head. He recalled the simple video of a man sitting in front of a brick wall, a ski mask covering his face; he remembered the words the man had said vividly.

"_There is nowhere you are safe, nowhere you can hide, and we have proved that to you these last few weeks. Your decedent, evil society will soon be at an end, and by the hand of All-Mighty God, we shall be your downfall._"

"But at least nothings happened…" Robin interjected after an awkward moment of silence "and there's still a few hours left, maybe it'll pick up."

"Yeah, maybe. Stay sharp man."

"You too. Robin out." Cyborg close his communicator, stowing it away again and went back to watching the short line coming out of the high school gymnasium and surrounding area, scanning for trouble with his arms folded, a sour look on his face.

-

"Beast Boy, what's going on down in your end of the city…" Robin stared at the blank screen of his communicator, waiting for a response, when none came he called him again "Beast Boy, are you there? Beast Boy?" Robin let out a frustrated half moan, half growl. "Beast Boy, open your damn communicator." Robin commanded into the small yellow disc, all patience gone from his voice.

A few more seconds passed while the Boy Wonder stared into his communicator, as sounds of hurried rustling came from the small speaker, one more fumble could be heard just before the Green Titan appeared on the screen, his hand behind his head, a large forced grin on his face.

"He he, sorry Robin I was—" He began to explain breathlessly.

"Just be quicker next time." Robin replied, cutting him off. "What's the situation over on your end?"

"Uh, yeah, um…everything seems to check out, nothing really out of the ordinary, well, the ordinary in this part of town anyway…there haven't even been that many people here all day at any rate." He added, after looking away, almost thoughtfully, for a moment.

"Yeah, everyone has been seeing the same thing, I've heard it's a pretty low turn-out all over the country, but we know why that is already." Robin replied, '_we shall be your downfall_', a chill ran down his spine, he knew all to well what these people were capable of. "Just contact me first if anything gets out of hand or looks weird. Robin out." He ended the conversation before Beast Boy had time to respond.

Robin close his communicator, putting it back in his belt while looking around his position on the rooftop of a four story brick apartment, right across the street from the school where the voting booths were. He had placed himself right on the edge of the building, both to allow him to get to the street faster, but also to be a highly visible deterrent to any would-be disruptors.

Robin glanced at his watch, only about 4 hours left until the polls closed, not that it mattered, he knew how it was going to end, everyone knew how it was going to end. As he lowered his arm, gunshots began to ring out just below.

Springing into action, Robin used the grappling line he had already shot out to swing down to the street. Around him, the people walking down the street and those waiting in line all dove to the ground, some of the women screamed, he was crouched in the middle of the street and posited to take on the assailants; but he found no gunman in the streets, no thugs, no robbers, no terrorist…only an old truck that had backfired when its owner had started it up.

He breathed a quick sigh of relief, then carefully went back to the sidewalk, shooting a grappling hook to the top of the building, climbing it, he quickly resumed his position watching over the proceedings. The civilians cautiously picked themselves up off the ground, still wary of any possible danger from the errant exhaust pipe or anything else.

-

"No, Robin, there have been no new developments since our last communication." Starfire replied to the Boy Wonder, who was on the other end of the video link.

"Alright, just keep your eyes open, everything's gone smoothly so far, there's only about an hour left we have to be out here; let's try and keep it that way. Stay sharp, Star."

"I shall be as the Ockham's Razor." She said, her voice full of determination.

"Uh Star, it's not a…never mind…just watch for trouble. Robin out." After he had signed off, Starfire closed her communicator and stowed it back at her waist.

'I must be sharp like the Razor' Starfire thought, from her perch on the roof of a nearby building. She slowly scanned the entire block below her, looking for anything out of the ordinary. A flash caught her eye; sunlight was reflecting off of something in the alley two buildings to her left and across the street.

She floated off the ledge, landing on the other side of the street just before the corner into the alley. Peering around the corner, she could see several armed men, all with a heavy compliment of weapons, and getting them ready for use.

Powering up a starbolt in both hands, Starfire charged around the corner and down the alley. She left fly with both bolts, both hitting their mark on a separate man, knocking them to the ground. One of them leveled his AK-47 at her, but before he could fire it was knocked from his hands and a sharp uppercut ended his hold on the conscious world.

As the man collapsed in front of her, she twisted around, back kicking another, sending him colliding into the brick wall. The last man snapped open a collapsible baton, racing forward with it lifted above his head. Starfire stepped into his strike, catching his arm halfway down and wrenching the baton out of his hand where it clanged to the ground. She pulled her arm back, readying to punch him, her other hand holding onto his shit, lifting him a few inches off the ground.

In the darkness of the alley, a flash of intense blue sparks illuminated it for a fraction of a second. Starfire let out a scream of surprise, which turned quickly to pain, and then a low moan as she collapsed backward on the cold concrete. The world was already dark, but she thought she saw two men standing over her; one the terrorist, the other…familiar, but she could figure out who it was before the world went all together black and she lost consciousness.

-

"Alright guys, good job," Robin's voice crackled out of the communicator "nothing happened today, the polls are closed, you're all relived, let's get back to the tower." Even though he'd been in regular contact, Rave was thankful to hear nothing had gone wrong, and more importantly, that they could now return to the tower. She didn't respond, she simply left the communicator on her belt and began to fly back towards the tower. She put her arm up in front of her face to block the setting sun from blinding her while she flew.

Raven landed on the tower roof, she walked across it towards the doorway on top, pausing to look back at the city, only for a moment, the sun behind her making it glisten, then descended the stairs to the main floor.

"Thank god nothing happened today." she though out loud as she descended the stairs "of course, all those bastards had to do was _hint_ that they just may do something and it hits people pretty hard with their fears...guess they call it 'terrorism' for a reason."

She walked slowly down the hallway, towards the living room, where she assumed everyone would be. She walked through the threshold; everyone was seated on the couch watching the news coverage of election night, it was NBC, and it was big enough to get Tom Brokaw to come out of retirement to cover it.

"And with 97 of precincts reporting in, we're prepared to call Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes for Senator Michael Fletcher. Well, it was thought impossible just two weeks ago for a Republican to break up the solid North East—wait, we've just got word, that now we can call Ohio and its 20 electoral votes for Senator Fletcher. Giving him a commanding lead over incumbent President, Allen Sheppard." Raven came over to the large couch and sat on the end, next to Robin. She opened her mouth to say something, but realized he was too focused on what was happening to care and shut it just as quickly.

"What is it you wanted to say?" He said, turning to her, the somber look on his face had disappeared, leaving his face unreadable as to the emotion that lay behind it. He had caught her a little of guard and she looked at him blankly for a moment.

"Just because I'm concentrating on this," he said, pointing at the television "doesn't mean I lose my peripheral vision."

" With a victory in his home state of Illinois, President Sheppard now has 184 votes in the Electoral College. It now stands at 216 for Senator Michael Fletcher, and with Wisconsin reporting in, 194 for President Allen Sheppard. This sudden upsurge in votes for the President can only be attributed to his 11th hour speech, only a short time ago. Many of our political analysts have said that, had the President delivered this speech yesterday, or even just a few hours earlier, he would have a much more importantly influanced the voters. Giving him a better chance than he has now, especially showing his late surge in exit polling, for voters who were strongly reminded why they elected him to office in the first place."

"Uh, right" she regained her composure quickly " I just wanted to say, that no matter what happens…we're all proud of you. And we wouldn't want anyone else to lead us."

"We are now prepared to call Florida, and its 25 electoral votes for Senator Fletcher, bringing his total to 231."

"She's right, man." Cyborg confirmed, putting his large metal hand on Robin's shoulder.

"And now we're ready to call Washington for President Allen Sheppard, that is 11 electoral votes, bringing his total to 205, and well within striking distance of a second term. But remember, the goal is 270, a clear majority in the electoral college, if neither candidate can get that then the election will be decided by the House, where the Democrats have a majority."

"Yeah" Beast Boy interjected, smiling "this hunk of junk would have gotten us all killed by know…" he gestured his thumb at Cyborg, who slowly turned towards his green friend.

"It all comes down to California, should Senator Fletcher win there, he will take the Presidency with it. Should President Sheppard win, the election will go to the House, where he is all but assured victory."

"_What was that you little piece of snot_?" Cyborg's question was rhetorical, but Beast Boy tried to answer it anyway as he backed up against the armrest of the couch, "uh, uh, what I meant was…"

"And with 94 of the precincts reporting in, we are prepared to call the state of California and its 55 electoral votes for—"

Robin jumped to his feet, somewhat startling the other Titans and drawing their eyes to him.

"Guys…where's Starfire?"

-

A/N: Hope you liked it, not really sure how many chapters exactly are left in this part, but I'd say at most 3 or 4.


	6. Loss

A/N: I am glad you think so, Crazy, and thank you for the reviews. I do wish it would pick up, but I am fine with just you being a fan, at least I know someone's reading it. Sorry for the long update time, but school snuck in during the night and brutally murdered my life, so I haven't had any time at all, but I'll try to get the next one up as quickly as is possible.

Disclaimer: Life truly is like a box of chocolates…except you always know that I don't own Teen Titans.

If you're going to tell people the truth, you better make them laugh; otherwise they'll kill you.

-George Bernard Shaw

-

"Raven," Robin turned to his teammate on his heels, the frantic tone already dispatched from his voice "did you see Starfire when you were flying back to the tower?"

Raven got to her feet "No, I didn't see her, I assumed she was already back, and when I didn't see her here, I just thought she had taken her time getting back" Raven looked down at her feet, she was mentally kicking herself for not having seen something was wrong.

"We're starting a city wide search right now, we can't afford to lose any time in waiting, not with all the shit that's happened these last few weeks. We can't spare a minuet. Beast Boy, Cyborg, get in closer" he waited a moment while his friends drew in close to him. "Raven, teleport us to the polling place Starfire was guarding today." She nodded and closed her eyes, raising her hands, a sphere of black energy enveloped the four Titans then disappeared, leaving the large room empty, and silent, save for the still broadcasting television.

"…and with a safe margin of victory in both the popular vote and Electoral College, Senator Michael Fletcher, will become the 44th President of United States of America."

-

"Beast Boy, you and Raven search north and east in a standard grid pattern. Cyborg, since neither of us can fly, I'm going to go west, you'll go south, then at my signal turn and head west, we'll meet up somewhere after that." Robin started giving his orders before the dark energy had even fully dissipated, and when the Titans had been transported, they all split right into their searches without another word.

Raven immediately took to the sky, while using her own powers in her eyes to look for traces of Starfire's powers. Beast Boy followed a similar strategy, taking the form an eagle, soaring above the streets, his keen eyes scouring for any sign of the alien girl.

"Remember guys, if you find _anything_" Robin's voice came out of their communicators "call it in to _all_ of us. If someone is behind this, and they managed to get Starfire, then none of us stand a chance alone."

Cyborg replaced his communicator after hearing what Robin had said. He switched his nonhuman eye into an infrared mode, so he could pick up any residual signs that Starfire had used her powers. He noticed how empty the streets were, there were scarcely any people walking around, and not many cars going down either side of the street. 'Big cities should be livelier than this' he thought, as he looked down an alley to his right, checking for any signs of a fight.

-

Slade watched a small red dot move along an intricate electronic map of the city streets, he leaned back in his chair and audibly sighed.

"Oh Robin, such an uninventive search pattern, even for you. You can at least be commended for your efficiency…" He thought out loud, watching as the dot, which he seemed sure was Robin moved about the city.

He turned away from the computer; getting up from his seat, he walked around his newly acquired headquarters 'A bit too bright…' he thought, before turning his attention back to the computer, but this time, to one of the smaller screens.

"It seems as though my prize is awake, I suppose a greeting is in order.

Starfire tired to say "What do you want Slade!" but only a muffled sound came out of her mouth. She tired to bite down, but her mouth was stuffed with something; she tried again to speak, but against the gag, only managed to produce a stifled moan, which quickly became frustrated. She glared at Slade, and if looks could kill, he'd have dropped dead. She seemed to focus for a moment, then a puzzled look overcame her features, Slade obviously noticed as he walked up to where she was restrained

"Wondering why you haven't snapped theses restraints and flown out of here? Or why you didn't fry me with beams from your eyes?"

Starfire tired to get up, but when it didn't happen, she apprized her situation, she tired to call up all her alien strength, gathering the same righteous fury she so often used in battle. But when it came, she knew that no power had come with it, nothing had changed in her, she was angry but without power, mad, but still unable to move.

She continued to glare at him, but did nothing while he answered the question she was unable to ask.

"I've thought of that already," he said tapping the thick metal collar around her neck "a nifty little gadget I picked up from a Kalderian trader. Handy, isn't it?" Slade laughed, his one remaining eye, usually so cool, the feelings behind it unreadable, betrayed the grin that was hidden under his mask.

He drew in closer as Starfire strained with all her might to break the thick cords binding her wrists to the steel pole her back was flush against. Starfire wanted nothing more than to kick Slade where the sun didn't shine as the villain bore down upon her, but the way she was sitting on the cold concrete floor made it impossible with her knees and ankles bound.

Slade was only a few inches from the teen's face while she still struggled to break her bonds beneath him. He crouched down further, directly in front of her and at nearly eye level, taking pleasure at witnessing her futile struggle.

He raised his hand quickly towards her face; Starfire immediately tensed up, focusing all her attention on the encroaching villain, her escape attempt put on hold. She readied herself for a strike just as his hand approached at speed, clench her eyes shut, but when no blow came, she cautiously opened her eyes. Momentary fear flashed across her face, but was supplanted just as quickly as it had arrived by another angry glare. Slade's hand ever so genially stroked her cheek, Starfire emitted a low growl through her gag, but the masked-man didn't seem to care, as he brushed back a lock of her hair that had fallen during her struggle.

"Did you really think I was going to hit you?" He said in a condescending tone, cupping her chin in his hand, directing her head up to look at him, and gaining from Starfire yet another icy glare and low growl.

Though it had only been there for a fraction of a second, Slade had seen her fear, she herself might not even have felt it, but we knew it was there…and he was going to use it; this was going to be entertaining.

-

Robin sprinted out of yet another alley, back onto the street, and despite his inability to fly; as well as the lack any cybernetic enhancements to his limbs, or otherwise beneficial powers, he was slightly ahead of the other Titans in total ground they each had covered.

"Titans, anything yet?" Robin asked for yet another progress report from his team, a very faint hint of desperation in his voice. As he has asked the Titans he had never stopped watching for any signs of Starfire as he continued to move through the streets. And when the other Titans answered back with nothing new to report, he only quickened his pace; closing his communicator and returning it to his belt.

The sun had already gone down and with streetlamps providing the only source of light in the area, visibility, even for Robin, was rather low. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin caught a glimpse of what he was looking for; stopping in his tracks, he turned quickly towards the wall, leaned in close and examined the brick. Embedded in the wall was a bullet, and a small impact crater. He took out a small flashlight and examined it closer.

After a few seconds of looking at the hole in the brick, Robin realized it was at least a month old.

"Damnit!" He yelled, punching the wall, cracking several bricks beneath his fist. He let out a frustrated groan and rubbed the knuckles on his right hand, trying to massage away the pain. Now that he'd stopped, his adrenalin began to wear off and his mussels began screaming at him. He took a deep breath and pushed the pain away, to the back of his mind where he could feel it later.

Robin took two steps from the wall before hearing his boot fall on a piece of metal. He removed it and crouched down, after taking out his flashlight, to examine what had been underneath his boot. He found a dull, brass bullet casing, flattened by his steel-soled boot. He placed it in a small plastic bag, and stowed it in his belt before looking more extensively around the area.

No more than ten seconds after he began scouring the ground, the Boy Wonder came upon what was pretty well exactly what he had been looking for. He picked up the little white object, brining it closer to his eyes, holding the flashlight just a few inches over it.

"Guys," Robin called into his communicator, holding it in the same hand as his flashlight "come to my position right now, I've got something." He inspected the thing in his hand; it was a tooth, 'and by the looks of it, knocked out only a few hours ago' he thought.

A column of black energy appeared next to him, dissipating to reveal Cyborg and Raven, who had gone to pick up her metal teammate to get him to Robin quickly. Despite the speedy arrival of his friends Beast Boy wasn't far behind, arriving only a few seconds later, dropping from the sky after he transformed back into himself.

"What is it Robin," Raven took a step towards him, the light from Cyborg's shoulder lamp illuminating a small sphere of the alley for them all "what did you find?"

"These" he responded, holding up two plastic bags containing the shell casing and tooth. "There's also fresh tire tracks from what I would have to say was a 2002 Ford E-150…navy blue." He added, looking down at the ground beneath him, to the skid marks he was standing on.

"How does he do that?" Beast Boy whispered to Cyborg.

"I don't think we really want to know." The metal teen responded.

"Practice, guys, _a very, very large amount of practice_." Robin said off-hand, as he further examined the area.

"How did he—" Beast Boy began to stammer out before Cyborg put a large metal hand on his shoulder.

"Cyborg, check you're map of the city…see if Starfire's locater signal is active."

"Hmm, let me see" Cyborg said as a small panel on his arm flipped up and he began to scan the city "ok, ok, I got it, it's active and broadcasting…from smack dab in the middle of the Industrial district."

"I can teleport us there…" Raven offered, as the other Titans looked up at her "god knows every bad-guy in the city has a hideout there, so we've been there enough times for a little site-to-site transport."

"Alright then, let's go." Robin said, taking a few steps towards his half-demon friend. Cyborg and Beast Boy also closed in and Raven conjured up a flood of black energy, which enveloped them all.

Beast Boy hated this part, which is always why he flew himself if he could, as the black energy swirled around him, completely encompassing his body. He shuddered; to him it felt like he was drowning, deep under the ocean, he was stuck, with no hope of surfacing in time for air. But as always happened, just as the feeling reached its most intense, it was gone, and Beast Boy opened his eyes to find everything blurry and in doubles…another side-effect he had which Raven could never satisfactorily explain.

The other Titans began walking forward, seemingly not noticing Beast Boy stumbling for a moment then violently shaking his head to clear up his vision before he ran to join them. They had appeared on a very poorly lit street in an especially badly lit part of town; right in front of the dilapidated gates of a long abandoned steel mill. There were no cars around them them, and no pedestrians, which was not unexpected.

"Cyborg, how close are we to her signal?" Robin asked impatiently. Cyborg quickly checked his display of the city.

"Raven put us down just out side the place. He signal's coming from in there." He said, pointing at the abandoned steel mill; just as he did, one of the bolt's holding the rusted gate to the fence sheared away, and the gate came crashing down in front of them.

"Oh well that's a good sign." Raven remarked.

"Ok, well, let's get in there and get our girl." Robin said as he began to quickly walk towards the mill, stepping over the fallen gate and crossing the grounds. The other Titans were quick to follow, and when their leader picked up his pace, the followed suit; with all of them arriving at the entrance after sprinting across the large piece of between the mill and its front gate.

Raven encircled the two large entrance doors with black energy, she ripped them off their hinges and threw them aside as Robin yelled 'Titan's Go!' and they all charged inside the building, ready for battle.

But inside the dark, acrid smelling mill there was only broken down machinery and rust. Robin was about to tell the Titans to split up to search the whole place, when he spotted a small column of light at the other end of the extensive structure.

The Titans all rushed over to where the light came down, a small shaft illuminating a simple wooden desk with a laptop on it. There on the screen, was a short loop video of Starfire that kept repeating itself; unconscious, gagged, and bound to a small steel post that extended off camera. She looked a little battered, with a few scrapes, probably from the fight, but otherwise ok. Sitting right next to the laptop was a Teen Titans communicator.

"Starfire's communicator…" Beast Boy thought aloud as he gingerly picked the round yellow object up off the desk.

"**Damnit**!" Robin yelled, smashing his fist down onto the laptop and going right through the desk in the process.

"We've been played. Whoever did this lead us right here, just to show us they got her." Cyborg said angrily, punching one fist into his other hand.

"Ok, calm down" Raven said, putting a hand on Robin's shoulder, causing him to look at her intensely. "I want to find her just as badly as you do, but we need to do it in a reasonable and calm manor…not," she looked down at the broken pieces of the laptop intermingled with the splintered desk "smash our only link to Starfire…"

Robin gave himself a second to recover, but only a second. He came back and was in full leader mode before the other Titans could say anything.

"I'm calling Police Chief O'Malley" Robin said as he took out his communicator " I'll get him to put out a city-wide APB for the van, it's a long shot, but it might give us more clues as to where Starfire is."

"Let's head back to the tower." He said a minuet later, after he had alerted the police to what they were searching for. "We need to try and piece this out, we're not going to get anything else done for tonight." He finished, checking his watch, it was already 2:45 in the morning and they had gained virtually nothing in their searching, save for now knowing for a fact that someone, somewhere, had Starfire.

-

Slade had left her the room she was in a few hours ago, but she couldn't really be sure how long it had been, with no clock on the wall or even a window to see the sky, she had no way of discerning how much time had really passed. It was pitch black in the room since Slade had shut off the lights as he walked out, leaving her alone in the darkness.

One thing Starfire did know for sure, she was becoming increasingly uncomfortable from the position she had been placed in, and it was getting more and more difficult to breath through her mouth due to the gag.

A bolt could be heard being pulled open on the other side of the door; it quickly creaked open; the light flooding into the room blinded Starfire as she tried to adjust her eyes, she could see the silhouettes of two men entering the room. As her eyes finally adjusted to the light from the door, one of them threw the other lights in the room on, further blinding the teen. She knew one was close to her, and felt him lean down next to her and undo the ropes keeping her hands bound to the poll but keeping her wrists tied together.

She tired to struggle but he was much lager than her, and as she remembered the heavy collar around her neck, she realized she wasn't going to wrench free of his grasp any time soon. He easily picked her up and walked, with her over his shoulder towards one end of the room. The second man closed the door and joined his friend, both where about 5'10" or 5'11" and at least 180lbs, most of it muscle. He grabbed her hands and lifted her up, then dropped her suddenly, she expected to come crashing to the ground, but instead she jerked to a stop about a foot above the ground.

She was suspended above the ground; she craned her neck up to see the hook firmly embedded in the ceiling she was hanging from. She looked worriedly to the two men; one had wheeled in a small metal cart, while the other was picking up objects on the cart, inspecting them, deciding what next to do.

Starfire's eyes grew very wide as she surveyed the cart; it had an array of surgical and decidedly non-surgical implements laid out on it; not a one of them the least bit pleasant looking. One of the men was holding a small knife in his hand, and sizing her up, as if trying to determine something…

'Deciding where to start…' She thought, after a millisecond of consideration she began to yell into the gag and attempt to move around and struggle to get off the hook holding her hands far above her head. The man with the knife began to approach her, a wicked grin on his face.

A/N: Again, sorry for the long time delay, and any oversights in this chapter, I could only do it in tiny snippets. Thanks for reading.


End file.
